proposed 2025 ban on real-money games (RMG)<\/a>, including skill-based games, risks repeating this cycle of futility. <\/p>\n<\/p>\nPROHIBITION\u2019S HALL OF SHAME <\/p>\n
Bans are a flawed imposition of moral codes on humans, based on the premise that outlawing something will destroy its demand. But they serve the exact opposite purpose: challenged by top-down diktats, humans find a way to procure what\u2019s forbidden. Because the pursuit of forbidden fruit is in our genes. Not convinced? Ask Adam and Eve. <\/p>\n
Life begins with a chance, and it remains a gamble till death. Betting and gambling are hardwired into our brains. From prehistoric hunting gambles to Roman dice games and mediaeval wagers on duels, from commoners to kings like Yudhisthir, no one has been immune. Neuroscience confirms this: dopamine surges from risk-reward loops make it addictive, not eradicable. <\/p>\n
Bans don\u2019t erase desire\u2014they redirect it to black markets. Ban porn? Enter VPNs. Outlaw drugs? Witness Udta Punjab. Prohibition? Cue hooch, underground networks, cross-border trade killing hundreds annually, while legal revenue vanishes. The pattern is universal: humans always find ways to laugh at restrictions. The world\u2019s ban experiments are a graveyard of good intentions gone wrong. The 2025 RMG ban risks repeating this folly. <\/p>\n
GAMING BANS: AN ECONOMIC SUICIDE <\/p>\n
The proposed blanket ban on real-money gaming is nothing short of a self-inflicted economic suicide bomb\u2014a knee-jerk, authoritarian overreach that ignores human psyche, inherited wisdom, crushes innovation, and invites chaos. It’s a policy disaster masquerading as moral guardianship. <\/p>\n
Far from protecting citizens from addiction or financial ruin, this prohibition will dismantle a thriving $3.7 billion industry (AIGF, 2024), depriving the government of billions in revenue. <\/p>\n
India’s RMG sector employs over 200,000 people across IT, AI, design, and content creation, while fuelling 2,000+ startups. It has attracted Rs 23,000-25,000 crore in foreign direct investment (FDI) over the past five years. Taxed heavily by the government, it has added nearly Rs 20,000 crore in annual GST and income tax revenue. <\/p>\n
A ban would shutter 400 companies overnight, wipe out these jobs, and lead to loss of revenue. This money could fund schools, roads, or healthcare instead of lining the pockets of foreign black-market operators. <\/p>\n
It will drive desperate users into the arms of unregulated offshore gambling dens teeming with fraud, money laundering, and even terror financing risks. <\/p>\n
Tamil Nadu\u2019s 2020 ban on online gaming, including skill-based rummy, was struck down by the Madras High Court in 2021 as unconstitutional overreach, violating the right to trade under Article 19(1)(g). Karnataka\u2019s 2021 attempt to outlaw all wagering met a similar fate in 2022, with courts slamming its failure to distinguish skill from chance. <\/p>\n
These bans didn\u2019t stop gaming; they pushed it offshore, where a Rs 8.2 lakh crore black market now thrives, untaxed and unregulated, fueling fraud and even terror financing risks. <\/p>\n
The proposed 2025 ban, with its draconian penalties (3 years jail, Rs 1 crore fines), ignores these lessons. It\u2019s not problem-solving; it\u2019s a gift to illegal platforms\u2014Operation Sindoor on the Indian economy. <\/p>\n
DON\u2019T PLAY PARENTS <\/p>\n
The government cites addiction, financial ruin, and money laundering as justifications. The diagnosis is correct, but the prescription is flawed. Actually, the ban isn\u2019t even prescriptive\u2014it is forced euthanasia. <\/p>\n
Addiction to online games is real, but so is addiction to social media, reels, or e-commerce. These addictions are not moral lapses\u2014they stem from lax regulations, especially concerning children and young adults. Bans don\u2019t solve problems society and parents have failed to address. They only cast the government as a prying \u2018Big Daddy\u2019 bent on economic suicide. <\/p>\n
Tamil Nadu\u2019s failed ban showed players don\u2019t stop\u2014they go offshore, where no safeguards exist. China\u2019s gaming curbs (2019\u2013ongoing), with strict playtime limits (3 hours\/week for minors) and spending caps, aimed to curb addiction but sparked a black market for fake IDs and VPNs. The $80 billion industry took a hit, but gaming didn\u2019t stop\u2014kids and adults just found ways around it. <\/p>\n
PLAY BY RULES <\/p>\n
Effective non-ban alternatives exist worldwide. Just as there is a regulator for stock markets\u2013an addiction for many\u2013set up a body for online games. Task it with enforcing robust regulations such as age verification, spending caps, mandatory warnings, parental controls, and self-exclusion programs to protect youth and vulnerable users while preserving a legitimate, innovative industry. <\/p>\n
Public awareness campaigns, rating systems, limiting play availability during certain hours, promoting skill-based and e-sports games, and providing counselling and treatment for addiction are smarter, balanced solutions. These measures help control addiction and financial harm without sacrificing jobs, innovation, or government revenue.
Bans won\u2019t stop the game\u2014they will only hand victory to illegal operators and stifle a booming industry. It\u2019s time to quit the ban mentality and play by smarter rules.<\/p>\n
– Ends<\/p>\n
Published By: <\/p>\n
Priya Pareek<\/p>\n
Published On: <\/p>\n
Aug 21, 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Whoever coined the word ban must be an expert at throwing the baby out of the bathwater with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88871,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[49,48,84,393,394],"class_list":{"0":"post-88870","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-mental-health","12":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}